Sally and her husband Simon at last year’s City to Surf.Source:Supplied

HAVING a baby is one of the most joyous times in a person’s life, but for six families every day in Australia, their joy can quickly turn into heartache.

That’s because six children are delivered stillborn across the nation every day — a rate that has not changed in two decades. It’s a statistic which has tragically been brought back in to the public eye with the news yesterday that Ada Nicodemou delivered her second child, Harrison, stillborn.

“For a mother who has carried a baby without event for nearly nine months, it’s one of the most tragic things that can happen,” says 34-year-old Sally Heppleston, who gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Hope, on August 19, 2008.

“I had a completely textbook pregnancy, and was completely unaware that anything was amiss. I’d gone into labour, and realised the baby wasn’t moving. When we got to the hospital, our worst fear confirmed. We were told she would be delivered stillborn.”

Sally and her husband Simon’s situation is sadly not unusual, according to The Stillbirth Foundation. In about 40 per cent of stillborn cases, the cause of the baby’s death will never be known.

The Hepplestons had this picture taken with Hope by Gavin Blue from Heartfelt, a volunteer organisation dedicated to ‘giving the gift of photographic memories to families that have experienced stillbirth.’Source:news.com.au

“We couldn’t believe it,” she says. “I think no one realises how common it us until it happens to them or to someone close to them. It’s confronting for people to talk about, but that’s my reality.

“Hope was born at nearly 41 weeks, she weighed eight pounds, she was a perfect baby. It was right at the final hurdle that we found out we’d lost her. I had to be induced and I gave birth naturally. It was just the most horrific of circumstances.

“People don’t understand why or what you’re grieving for. They don’t understand how you can be so upset over someone you’ve never met. But for a mother who has carried a baby without event for nearly nine months, it’s one of the most tragic things that can happen. Any excitement you were feeling is abruptly cut off. And obviously, you’re still dealing with the physical realities of having given birth, preventing your milk from coming, things like that. We had a nursery set up, freshly washed clothes, everything good to go, and then nothing. It’s such a confusing period.

“Early on it’s horrific. Your instinct is to go inward and protect yourself and your emotions. It’s supposed to be the happiest time of your life and it’s turned on its head in an instant. For us, it was an intense period of grieving for 12 to 18 months. It was a dark and upsetting time.

Sally, Simon, Angus and Juliet.

“The thing that probably saved us was that we gave birth to a boy, Angus, 15 months later, and three years later another daughter, Juliet. It doesn’t change anything, Hope is still our first child, but it’s given us something new to live for.”

Sally and Simon are in Sydney this weekend to run the City2Surf, hoping to raise both awareness and much-needed funds for The Stillbirth Foundation.

“Hope would have been six this year. So far, we’ve raised $5000 for the foundation. We don’t do this or tell our story to scare people, we tell it to make people aware that this can happen. And if it does, there are people you can turn to. If you’re ever concerned about your baby, talk to someone. It’s an unimaginable nightmare, but you don’t have to go through it alone.”